Much Better
by maplexsyrup
Summary: Oneshot. Cam's got a rep for breaking hearts, and it might just come crashing down on him. "I always thought they were harmless, until they started sending me hate letters." Clam, CamKristen


Oh oh oh. I started this months ago--August, actually--and I was so pround of myself for starting Amy's birthday present early. HAH. Well, Amy's birthday was almost three months ago. I'm so sorry this is late. I'm gonna wrap up this author's note now, but Happy really really belated Birthday. Love ya--I even threw in some JB for you! Enjoy :)

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**much better**

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**i got a rep for breakin' hearts**  
"You... you... Jerkface! I can't believe you. I thought you loved me!" she wails, grabbing my arm and burying her face in my shoulder. The sound of her heavy sobs should have made me feel bad for breaking up with her, but I've seen Claire really, truly cry only once, at her great-grandma's funeral. These overdone sobs are for the sole purpose of making me feel bad, and we both know it. Drama queen. I gently push her away, and she wails even more.  
"But--but I just don't understand, Cammie! We were in love! How can you j-just destroy our eternal bond?"  
I don't know what to say to that. In my mind, there was a relationship, sure. There was that preteen-romance kind of like, but not love.  
"Jerkface h-heartbreaker!" she screams, "How can you do this to me? I LOVED YOU!" She glares at me one last time before running away. The door slams behind her with a definitive thud.  
I should feel bad for breaking it off, but instead I just feel relieved.

**and now i'm done with superstars  
**The thing about Claire is that she still has fans. Remember when she was in that crappy straight-to-DVD movie a few years ago? Well, she still has a cult following around here, mostly sixth graders who have nothing to do but follow her around and ask for autographs.  
They always seemed harmless to me, until they started sending me hate letters.

"_U R a very mean person! claire is awesum and deserves bettr! go back where u came from jerk face!"_

**and all the tears on her guitar / i'm not bitter**  
In the pile of letters from angry fangirls that kept showing up on my doorstep (which Harris and I kept chucking into the fireplace) I found a pale pink envelope with CAMMIE written on it in Claire's writing. Inside was a poem titled I Miss You. It wasn't a bad poem, although I did laugh at the line "I would run a thousand miles for you / across scorching deserts and oceans blue", because Claire hates physical activity and can't stand the ocean because it messes up her hair. Yet I couldn't help thinking that Blink-182 said it better.  
That was one of my issues with Claire. She didn't get that sometimes music could describe your feelings better than you could yourself. I realized that maybe if she had been the kind of girl who would make me a mix CD instead of writing me a sappy poem, I would have considered taking her back.

**now i've got some enemies / and they're all friends suddenly / bffs eternally**  
It's surprising that Massie invited me to her party. I thought Claire would have crossed me off the guest list, seeing as how she's refused to be in the same room as me since we broke up. I think Massie was even more surprised that I showed up, since the two of us haven't exactly been the best of friends.  
I spotted them all standing at the foot of the stairs. Massie and Claire were standing beside Alicia and Olivia (when did they start talking again? I thought they hated each other) and as soon as Massie noticed I was watching, they all turned to glare at me.  
All the girls I had hurt sometime in my life (I wasn't forgetting that Massie still liked me when I first started dating Claire, or that I rejected Alicia in Lake Placid), standing together. I wouldn't have been surprised if Nikki had jumped out to stand with them.  
All of a sudden, they started walking towards me. Oh crap. I whirled around quickly, hoping to make a break for it.  
I ran smack into Kristen Gregory.

**and now i see / everything i'll ever need / is the girl in front of me / she's much better**  
She smiles at me in a teasing way. "Trying to make a quick getaway, Fishy?"  
"See your friends over there?" I reply, "They all hate me. I think they're coming to gang-beat me or something for daring to show up tonight."  
"Oh, don't mind them. Massie tends to get angry when she drinks. Watch this." She waves to get Massie's attention, mouths '_I got this'_, grabs my arm and drags me through the crowd and out the sliding doors onto the patio. "You might want to keep a low profile for a while. They did seem pretty pissed."  
"Thanks," I say, watching as she sits down and dangles her bare feet in the Block's pool. It strikes me that Kristen isn't bitchy and self-absorbed like Massie, or whiny and clingy like Claire. She isn't crazy and obsessive like Nikki, vain like Alicia, or stupid like Olivia. I also realize that this is the first time I've ever _really_ noticed her.

With a deep breath, I sit down beside her, roll up my jeans, and stick my feet in the water. I know there's an angry mob of girls inside who may possibly want to kill me, but for now I just don't care.


End file.
